The present invention relates to the design and construction of earthworks by work machines and, more particularly, to the development and storage of earthwork design templates for placement by the machine operator on a topographic map.
Traditionally, the creation of earthworks by work machines was a labor-intensive task, requiring manual surveys of the terrain and the placing of stakes to delineate the desired location and orientation of the earthwork. In recent years, with the advent of GPS (global positioning system) and other three-dimensional positioning technology in conjunction with work machines, the task of creating earthworks has been greatly simplified. Utilizing GPS or other positioning technology, as a work machine traverses the site, a topographic map of the site is created and stored electronically in a computer system onboard the machine and, oftentimes, in a back office computer system. Then, utilizing software in the office, one or more desired earthworks, such as airstrips, gun emplacements, or the like, may be designed, stored in individual electronic files, and positioned on the topographic map. The map, including the desired earthworks, is communicated to the computer system onboard the work machine for viewing by the machine operator, who, using the map as a reference, constructs the earthworks.
However, these systems are limited in that the earthwork designs are usually stored in the office computer system and are placed on the topographic map utilizing the office computer system. In many situations, such as for military operations or for smaller construction or mining sites, it would be desirable to design the earthwork placement at the worksite, thus avoiding the need to have an office system in communication with the work machine and the delay inherent in designing the placement offsite and allowing the design to be quickly revised, if needed.
The aforementioned problems are overcome by the present invention wherein at least one design template is electronically stored on an onboard computer system on a work machine. The operator of the machine may select one or more design templates and place the templates on a topographic map, also electronically stored in the onboard computer system. To place the template, the operator translates the template into position, orients the direction of the template, and determines the appropriate elevation of the template on the topographic map.